China’s Paris Olympics opening ceremony outfits labelled sexist and ugly on social media
- ‘The real problem is the backward gender awareness,’ says post on Xiaohongshu, the country’s Instagram-like platform
Social media users in China have slammed officials for having “backward gender awareness” as the country’s outfits for the Paris Olympics opening ceremony went viral for the wrong reasons.
China’s outfits, to be worn by its athletes at the opening ceremony on July 26 and the closing ceremony two weeks later, were unveiled last month, with men set to sport a red suit jacket with white trousers and women donning a jacket, skirt and high heels.
But on Thursday, there was growing disgust among users on Xiaohongshu, China’s Instagram-like platform, with many calling the entire ensemble sexist.
“The problem with this set is not just that it’s ugly, the real problem is the backward gender awareness that adds to the already scarce aesthetics,” one user whose posts went viral said.
“The whole world is de-gendering, not using skirts and trousers to differentiate between women and men, but we are the only ones who still use hip-hugging dresses and high-heeled shoes to wrap female athletes.”
“Having a skirt isn’t a problem, but not [giving the choice] for trousers, is a big problem,” another user commented.